Sunday, October 07, 2018

Sermon for 10/7/18: Nineteenth Sunday After Trinity

RIGHT-CLICK HERE to save the audio file.


Specific Grace

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

What Jesus said to the paralytic caused real concern to the Scribes present in that house. They took His words at face value. This fact can seem strange to our postmodern ears. We are tempted to think that religious speech is generic, not to be taken too literally, if it would offend. When we hear pastors or teachers, we filter their words through our own understanding of how things are. It is expected that religious words should be general, all-inclusive, because we don’t want to face differences in theological thought. We don’t want to have to tell someone they’re wrong. And no one can tell us that we’re wrong.
The Scribes in the house with Jesus that day knew at once that He was being specific. He meant what He said. He called those who heard Him into question: their faith and the way they practiced that faith; and the ideas, words, and actions which flowed from their faith. What Jesus said cut through to their hearts; it made them uncomfortable and angry. With Jesus there is right and wrong, black and white, sin and forgiveness. There is no gray.
You would do well to listen to Jesus and to take Him at His Words. Our Lord said to the paralytic: “Son, your sins are forgiven.”  “You are let loose from your sins.”  What He says is what we call Absolution. Absolution is not saying that this man is excused from what he has done and been. Absolution is not saying that this man was not really guilty, or that he was somehow not responsible. And He certainly is not saying the man should simply ‘forget it’ or ‘learn to live with it.’ When you and I speak of forgiveness, we usually have one of those in mind. Just think for a minute how you responded the last time someone apologized for what they had done or said that hurt you. You probably told them to forget about it, that it was not all that serious, that the effect of their action was not that significant. You probably said, “It’s okay,” even when you knew that it wasn’t okay. Maybe you said, “No big deal,” when it was a big deal to you. That is not Absolution. Forgiveness is costly to give, because it gets to the heart of the matter. Jesus forgives. Real forgiveness is costly. Our lives are never the same when we have forgiveness. Jesus takes the sin of the sinner upon Himself and lets it do its deadly work to Him. Your sins are forgiven when they are put to death in Christ.
Jesus absolves the paralytic. He does not forgive him for being a paralytic, as if our offense against God was that our bodies are weak and our minds are not all-knowing. The paralytic is more than a paralyzed man; he is a sinner, just as we are sinners. Our greatest need is not the healing of our bodies, the mending of our marriages, or the reconciliation of our relationships with our parents or our children. Our greatest need is the forgiveness of our sins. That’s the heart of the matter, and Jesus always sees through to the heart. Those three little words—“I forgive you”—can heal family feuds, hurting marriages, damaged friendships, and broken homes. They can heal the people giving them and the people receiving them.
Jesus speaks these words to you, and then He puts those words in your mouth in His body and blood in the sacrament. And soon, in His time, He will call you to rise from your bed and to go to your heavenly home. Soon all of your physical infirmities will be taken away and you will again be whole and perfect. Here and now He speaks and invites you to receive the forgiveness He won for you. He came to give it because He loves you. In the name of the Father and of the Son (†) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.

No comments: